Relax
by Umaguma
Summary: Celes and Locke the day after the final battle.


Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of Square.

A/N: Celes and Locke the day after the victory.

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We sat on the sofa aboard the Falcon talking of little things, trivial things, simple things.

To be honest I was still in shock, the battle was won, the world was safe, and here we sat talking leisurely. It was just the two of us at the moment, everyone else in various parts of the ship prepping for our arrival in Figaro. Edgar offered to provide the Falcon with much needed supplies and repairs, so long as we all partook in a celebratory dinner. Setzer was more then happy to oblige, stating that his resources have been horribly depleted due to having a large number of occupants for such an extended period.

And so here I sit taking in his presence, his smell, and his warmth. Lounging on a sofa with my back against the side rest, leg crossed in front of me, angling myself to better face him. He was chucking softly at his own spoken thoughts, his posture more relaxed; leg propped up on the cushion between us, his knee lightly touching my thigh, and his arm stretched out and resting on the sofa's back.

The atmosphere was thick as we murmured our words softly, relishing in the fact that it was just the two of us and the air of anxiety that once plagued us is now gone. It was almost surreal to have the fog of impending doom lifted, leaving a clear landscape littered with unknown paths.

I lean my head against the sofa, feeling his hand press against the back of my head. A slight smile crept across my face as his breath become a little more slow, his expression misted as he did a subtle swallow. We've never intruded into each others personal proximity before, at least not in such private moments. We've hugged during the high experienced after a battle, but when it was just the two of us we've always kept our distance, allowing only our eyes to express the feelings we share. Not even words were spoken, the unsaid fear of establishing such an emotional bond in times of immanent danger was reckless, the repercussions for unnecessary risk was simply too high.

A fact that Locke knew all too well.

Simple touches; his knee already lightly touching my thigh and now his hand softly pressed against my hair, I wanted to lean further into him as I studied his face, observing his eyes flick back and forth as he also takes in my features.

"You smell nice." He says softly.

"I bathed this morning." I responded in equally hushed tones.

"But for some reason the soap smells so much nicer on you." He says with a wink.

I chuckled softly, partially from his compliment and partially from the realization that we were flirting so carelessly, so innocently and so honestly, as it should be.

I take it further, fully acknowledging the lack of fear and emerging swell of hope. I push off the sofa catching his brief look of disappointment, which quickly turned to surprise as I reposition myself closer to him, leaning my back against his chest, my head resting in the crook of his neck. I hear him take a sharp intake of breath, then slowly let out a long exhale. Feeling his breath against my ear I cannot help but lightly shiver as an unmistakable arousal burns through my veins. I never realized my ears could be so stimulating.

He feels my shiver and inhales deeply as his body reacts to mine. "Celes" he says in a raspy voice as he attempts to reposition himself.

I stop him by placing my hand on his thigh "No, stay here, like this."

I fully lean into him, letting his hand fall on my thigh. He makes a short grunting noise and places both hands firmly on my waist "Hold on, let me…" leaving his sentence unfinished he gently lifted me up as he repositioned his legs, setting me down between them, thighs on either side of me with his right leg propped up on the cushion. He gently pulls me until my back was once again against his chest. As my head settles on his shoulder he says softly "My back was twisted in an uncomfortable position I hope you don't mind."

"No," I responded, now thoroughly enjoying the feel of his warm breath against my ear. Closing my eyes I breath in deeply, immersing my senses in his presence. A hand rests on my thigh and he makes small circular motions with his thumb. I sigh contently as a deep relaxation begins to flow though my body. It felt wonderful.

Suddenly he tightly wraps his arms around me and squeezes, forcing the breath out of my lungs. "I'm so glade you survived." His voice thick with emotion.

As much as I wanted to react to his joy, I simply don't have it in me to respond. "Can't…breath…" I chock out.

"Oh, sorry." He loosened his grip but kept his arms wrapped around me

Wanting to look into his eyes I turn my body to face him, lifting my legs so that they laid over his with my feet dangling off the edge. Leaning my head back onto his shoulder I said "I'm happy you made it too, that all of us made it relatively unscathed."

"But your magic-"

"Was never meant to be, and is now as it should be."

He smiled, lifting his hand to my face he gently moved a stray hair away from my eye, slowly caressing my jaw line as he moved his hand to rest on the base of my head. His gentle touches were addicting.

He leaned in and kissed me softly, just a quick peck, but it sent waves of pleasure throughout my body. With his face inches away from mine he said "Don't dismiss the loss so lightly."

"I'm not, I just don't know how it will impact me yet. And hopefully with Kefka gone peace will be restored throughout the world, I might not need my magic from this day forth."

He chucked "That's wishful thinking Celes."

Leaning my forehead against his I give a small sigh and said "I know, but I can't help but try to feel hopeful about the future. I don't know what's going to happen next; out of everyone here I feel the most displaced. Everyone has a home to go to, but my home and my previous life is gone forever."

"Then maybe you're the luckiest of us all, your free to choose whatever path you desire from here on out. No obligations, no worries; your free."

"Free" I repeat softly, I didn't know what to think. I didn't want to know. Right now what I wanted was to drown myself in him; feel him, taste him, touch him. Closing my eyes I took a deep breath and said "I don't want to think about this right now, right now I want to…relax."

A flicker of recognition passed through his eyes and he smirked. Sliding his hand down my waist until it rested on my rump he gave it a slight squeeze. His movements were sensual, his hands strong, his smell became intoxicating, and I found myself moving against him in a vain attempt to appease the growing pressure between my legs. The actions had the opposite effect when I felt his body respond beneath me. Biting my bottom lip I attempted to regain control, but as the tingling pleasure spread throughout my body I shivered. Gods this was the most intense sensation I've ever experienced.

And all I was doing was sitting on his lap.

With his hand now firmly on my buttocks he pulled me even further onto him, straightening himself slightly as his other hand began sliding up and down my back. His voice was deep and husky as he said "I can think of a few activities that are very relaxing, or at least have a relaxing after effect."

I felt him, his growing need beneath me. I wasn't ready for my body's reaction; my breath became labored as the throbbing in my nether regions grew tenfold. It was a pleasure that held a wanting; as much as I enjoyed the feeling my body knew that there was more to it, and my mind was slowing catching to the fact that I was experiencing true womanly desire for the first time.

He kissed me then and I eagerly reciprocated.

Our bodies were melding into each other, hands roaming and exploring freely. He lifted my head exposing my neck, kissing it eagerly. The light stubble on his face gently scraped across my neck, tickling my skin as his mouth sucked, nipped and kissed. The overlapping sensations were overwhelming as I hear myself let out a soft moan.

He slowly lowered me until I was lying on the sofa, his body flush above me. My legs half-way wrapped around him as he slowly moved himself against me, our cloths doing little to prevent the strong surge of pleasure that erupted from my groin. I found myself reciprocating the movements, my body knowing the way to move to elicite a similar response in him. I hear him gasp and let out a deep masculine moan, his hands sliding underneath my shirt and bra to cup my breasts, giving them a slight squeeze.

I moaned again and wrapped my legs completely around him, kissing him enthusiastically. My mind began to fog over as the pleasure from his ministrations overwhelmed my senses.

Then it hit me, we were on a sofa in a public area on the Falcon, someone could simply walk right through those doors and see quite a show.

Releasing my kiss I gasped out his name as his mouth went back to my neck. Putting my hands on his shoulders I try to push him away, but my body was having trouble listening to my mind's demands. Finally I breath out "Wait, stop."

He ceased his movements and lifted his head, mouth slightly apart and eyes hooded. The expression on his face was intensely arousing and I fought back the urge to pull him down to continue.

I opened my mouth to speak but he beat me to it "We're moving too fast." He said as a look of worry passed through his eyes.

"I was actually thinking that someone might walk in on us."

He briefly looked towards the door quirking his mouth upward as he realized that I wanted to continue this somewhere more private. "So you want to relocate?"

"Well, maybe we are moving too fast." I say as his previous words sink in.

Rolling his eyes he lifted himself, hovering over me as he rested his weight on his elbows. "Me and my big mouth." He says with a smile.

The moment he moved away I felt of rush of cold air fill the space he once occupied. It was unpleasant; I wanted him against me, I wanted to feel his body. He had a point, but I'll be damned to lose those wonderful feelings that were surging through me. I put my finger on my lips in feigned contemplation "Well, I suppose we can continue so long as we don't progress beyond what we've already done, at least for now."

His smile turned into a full grin as he dipped down to capture my lips again. The kisses weren't as passionate as it was a moment ago, now that we've limited how far we'll go. We were simply exploring each others bodies, getting to know each others taste and feel in ways we both desired.

Several times we heard footsteps in the hallway, each time we pulled apart, looking towards the door expectedly, ready to push each other apart if the doorknob moved.

"We should move."

"We should."

But once the steps dissipated we simply continued where we left off. That is, until the door really did open.

I was taken off guard; getting use to the footsteps I must have tuned them out, as did Locke judging by the look of surprise on his face when he pulled away from the kiss.

Taking our hands out of each others shirts Locke quickly jumped off me while I straightened out my cloths. I sat up trying my best to repress the blazing blush that I felt creeping onto my face.

There stood Sabin, frozen, hand still on the doorknob, eyebrows shooting straight to the sky as a shit-faced grin spread across his face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." He said with pure amusement.

"Sabin" Locke said giving the man a goofy grin "I, uh…" his eyes darted to me, trying to think of something to say as he ran his hand over his head. "Hi." He said with a shrug, there really wasn't anything to deny, especially when caught red handed.

I did my best to emulate Locke's nonchalance despite my embarrassment. Attempting to hide my discomfort I straightened my back and regarded Sabin with a cool expression. Not that I wanted to be rude but I'm positive that in a half hours time the whole ship will be abuzz on what he just witnessed.

Sabin's grin turned into full out laughter as he turned to leave. Closing the door behind him I could hear his laughter echo down the hallway.

"I suppose the news of our indiscretion will be spread throughout the ship in no time." I said, unable to hide irritation in my voice.

Locke gave me a rueful look as he said "I didn't realize that you were that serious about being discreet, we did have our chance to move."

I felt that damned blush once again rise as I said "I suppose I was simply too caught up in the moment to really care."

Moving closer he put his arms around me as I melted into his embrace, by the gods I love how this man feels. A wave of calm spread throughout my body once more as I cuddled against him, listening to his strong and steady heartbeat in his chest. This is what it feels like to be at peace, to have no worries, to feel content.

I didn't know how long this was going to last; days, months, years, a lifetime. But at the moment it didn't matter, I simply let the tension from a life of discipline and control flow out of me, and for the first time I truly felt relaxed.

End.

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End file.
